IILMBH 10

Chapter 10

Anis stood there, clutching the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands as she looked at me.

Her large eyes looked as though tears might fall at any moment.

The moment I saw that face, a sharp pain spread through me, just like when my skin was being cut apart with a scalpel.

Don’t worry. I’m okay…….

I wanted to open my lips and say it.

But even breathing out was difficult because of the pain.

Still, seeing her looking as though she were about to cry was unbearable.

Wanting to reassure her, Emilian moved his lips.

“Don’t cry…….”

But why?

Anis’s eyes trembled like waves being battered by a storm.

She bit her lips tightly, but in the end, tears spilled from her eyes.

The tears I had been holding back burst forth.

I had tried not to cry, but there was no way I could see the wounded Emilian and act as though nothing was wrong.

I’m sorry I was late…….

I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.

I swallowed the words I could not bring myself to say.

I wiped away the tears flowing down my cheeks with my sleeve.

I couldn’t quite suppress the sound of my sniffles.

Instead, the argument between the Director and Franz drowned out my sobbing.

“Is it true that you injected Experiment Subject No. 175 with the regenerative enhancement drug?”

“……Yes, it is true.”

“Why did you proceed with the experiment while skipping the previous stages?”

“This subject has exceptionally high drug tolerance. He was at a level where we could proceed with the experiment without going through the earlier stages.”

“This experimental subject is special. Did I not clearly tell you not to handle him so roughly?”

“But look! He should have gone through at least four stages, yet he is already showing a response!”

“Certainly, it is an astonishing result.”

“Then……!”

“You haven’t forgotten the case of Experiment Subject No. 117, have you?”

Franz merely bit down on his lips and did not answer.

Experiment Subject No. 117.

That child had also shown exceptional adaptability, just like Emilian.

At the time, the researchers had expected that the child would pass the final experiment and become a transcendent being.

However, on the day before the final experiment, the child suffered a severe seizure and died.

It had been the result of recklessly reducing the number of experimental stages.

Back then, the researchers had been desperate for results.

“This time, we need to be cautious. We cannot repeat the same mistake as before.”

The Director placed a firm hand on Franz’s shoulder as he spoke.

“Conduct the experiments on Experiment Subject No. 175 according to the manual.”

Franz did not answer for a moment.

But soon, he replied through clenched teeth.

“……Understood.”

The Director had the researchers remove the restraints from Emilian.

Then he pointed at me and instructed me to take Emilian back to his room.

I supported Emilian and carefully asked,

“Can you walk?”

“……Yeah.”

Despite being in agony from the pain, Emilian managed to stand on his own two feet.

With the Director’s permission, I used the elevator powered by magic stones to take him back to his room.

Emilian leaned his back against the bed and squeezed his eyes shut.

His breathing was ragged.

I hurriedly searched through my pocket and pulled out a medicine bottle.

It was the painkillers left over from last time.

“Take this. It’ll make the pain a little better.”

Emilian nodded, accepted the medicine, and drank it.

I wish you could get better as quickly as if it were magic…….

But it would take some time for the medicine to take effect.

I should have brought the Director sooner.

Feeling heavy-hearted, I sat beside the bed and watched Emilian’s condition.

I gently brushed back his hair, which was dirty with sweat and blood, and said,

“Is there anything else you need? If you’re thirsty, do you want some water? Or…….”

Emilian gently shook his head.

He firmly grasped my hand and said,

“Just for a little while…… stay here with me.”

I couldn’t bring myself to pull my hand away.

I had seen with my own eyes what Emilian had almost been subjected to.

The experiment had been far more brutal than I had imagined.

It was not something a thirteen-year-old child should have been able to endure.

And yet, Emilian…….

“It’s okay.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

He had deliberately smiled at me to reassure me when I was worried.

If it had been me, I would never have been able to say such things.

How can you be so strong?

How can you comfort someone else even after suffering through that kind of pain?

How can you keep from breaking even in this hell?

I…… can’t endure it.

I didn’t want to see any more children get hurt or die.

The truth was, I wanted to run away.

The words I could not say simply swirled around inside my mouth.

Strangely, my tears wouldn’t stop.

Normally, they would have stopped quickly……

At first, whenever children left after being unable to endure their experiments, it had been difficult to hold back my tears.

But I had gotten used to it by now, so I was fine.

At least, that was what I thought.

But the sorrow I had desperately suppressed overflowed precariously and spilled out.

I had kept deceiving myself, telling myself that I could endure it, but perhaps I had actually reached my limit.

Why am I so weak?

I turned my head and wiped away the tears flowing down my face so Emilian wouldn’t see them.

Then, trying not to let him hear the hoarseness in my voice, I said,

“I’ll stay by your side. So…… get some rest.”

“Yeah…….”

Perhaps having someone beside him made him feel reassured, because Emilian gave me a faint smile.

Soon, his eyelids slowly closed.

I stayed silently by his side.

The breathing of Emilian, lying on the bed, gradually became steady.

Did he fall asleep?

I was about to leave, but the grip of his hand around mine was strong.

I couldn’t force his hand away, so I gently stroked the hair that had fallen over his forehead.

I’m sorry. I can’t stay by your side until the end.

But…….

I don’t want to run away and leave you behind.

Contradictory thoughts became tangled together inside me.

I knew that someday, I would have to make a choice.

And yet, my weak heart could not choose either path and only continued to grow more hesitant.

Several days passed.

The dazzling morning sunlight woke me naturally.

Normally, I would have gotten up at the crack of dawn, but today I squirmed around in my blankets a little longer.

Today was a rare day off.

It was only three days a month, but without even that, it would have been truly unbearable.

There was only one reason the researchers gave us even the bare minimum amount of time off.

They feared that if they worked the children too harshly, some of them would be unable to endure life here and would attempt to escape.

I washed up and changed my clothes, glancing at the clock.

Normally, it would have been around the time I brought breakfast to the experimental-subject children.

Come to think of it, Emilian is off starting today, too.

By the Director’s special order, Emilian had been exempted from experiments for one week.

Of course, it wasn’t because the Director was a kind-hearted adult.

After Franz had recklessly pushed the experiment, something had suddenly gone wrong with Emilian’s body.

Once his body recovered sufficiently, they would take him back to the laboratory and experiment on him again.

That was depressing, but at least it was fortunate that he could rest for a little while.

If it had been another child, they probably would have continued the experiments without giving it a second thought.

Even that made it clear that the Director had given Emilian special treatment.

What could he be doing right now?

He had no one to talk to and no friends.

On top of that, the experimental-subject children couldn’t even leave their rooms.

He must be bored all day.

Come to think of it, there was something I could bring to Emilian.

I had been too busy to find the time to go there before, but today was different.

I put on my shoes and left my room.

Since I’m free today anyway…….

The Second Library was in a separate building far away from the research building.

When I entered the place, filled with the smell of old books, the librarian, who had been resting his chin on his hand with a bored expression, glanced at me.

When the librarian asked what I had come for, I made up an excuse that I had been sent on an errand by a researcher.

Researchers often sent children to fetch books.

Because of that, the librarian did not seem suspicious of me.

I passed several bookshelves filled with thick books.

At the very bottom of the shelf marked with classification number 800.

The book I was looking for was there.

I crouched down and examined the spines of the books.

Ah, there it is.

I hooked my finger around the edge of the book’s spine and pulled firmly.

A small, thin book slipped out.

It was a storybook I had happened to discover one day while running an errand for the researchers.

I didn’t know how a children’s storybook had ended up mixed in with the bookshelves, but……

Good thing I remembered where it was.

I placed the storybook at the very bottom and picked out several thick academic books.

This should be enough, right?

A little while later, I returned to the research building with my arms full of books.

I wonder if he likes reading?

When I arrived at Emilian’s room, I poked my head in and looked inside.

As usual, he was sitting on the bed.

But this time, he had pulled his knees tightly against his chest and buried his head in them.

Was it because the experiments he had undergone had been so difficult?

His strangely gloomy appearance made me feel sorry for him.

I cleared my throat to announce my presence and said,

“Emilian. What are you doing there?”

At the sound of my voice, Emilian quickly raised his head.

“Anis?”

His eyes widened.

Was my coming here really that surprising?

I tilted my head in slight confusion, and he approached the bars.

Blinking his red eyes as he stared intently at my face, Emilian said,

“You…… weren’t going to come anymore, were you?”

“……?”

No, why would he suddenly think that……?

I was momentarily bewildered by his completely unexpected words.

Then I soon realized something.

I wasn’t the one who had brought Emilian breakfast today.

Could he have thought his assigned errand-runner had been changed because of that?

I was about to explain that it wasn’t like that, but Emilian spoke in a gloomy voice.

“Is it because I was bothering you?”

“Huh……? What are you talking about?”

After hesitating for a moment, he bit his lips tightly and said,

“Before, I grabbed your hand because I didn’t want you to leave, and I made things difficult for you.”